When McGee was sixteen, he came home from school and found his house empty and abandoned; the only things left were his bed, his books, his clothes and his Commodore 64 computer.

His mother had sold the house to pay for two plane tickets and the fee for her girlfriend's gender confirmation surgery, leaving him on his own.

He packed up his computer, dropped out of high school and took a variety of odd jobs, finally settling on a Volkswagen repair shop.

Carmack offered McGee a tech support job at id Software, where he was quickly promoted to level designer and music manager.

I felt a mixture of terror and freedom that was so significant and powerful—it combined together all the good and bad of the years I'd spent working with Carmack, Romero and the others... and kicked me out into the world to fend for myself.

[9][10] McGee has stated to this day, he still has no idea why he was fired but acknowledged the fact that it was due to "internal politics and my own failings".

After finishing Alice, McGee left EA "in frustration" when the company fired his creative partner R. J. Berg and shut down Rogue Entertainment.

[15] McGee directed the 2002 music video for the song "Same Ol' Road" by the band dredg, from their album El Cielo.

[16] Partnering with Enlight Software and its founder Trevor Chan, McGee released the games Scrapland in 2004 and Bad Day L.A. in 2006.

"[17][18][19] The planned American McGee's Oz, which was to be produced in conjunction with Ronin Games, was canceled over financial difficulties at Atari.

McGee and his small team began working on a pitch book of "artwork, design outline, and financial/business model" which would be sent to EA upon completion.

[28] McGee has stated his mission is "to create a unified production method for story telling across the interactive and film industries" and of himself, he says, "I want to be the next Walt Disney, only a little more wicked.